It’s Never Too Late // Olivia Hall

Do you ever wish you had lived your life differently thus far? I know that I have. As I reach my mid-twenties, post-college graduation season and enter into the “real world”, I often find myself wishing I would’ve worked harder or faster at some things, or maybe even done some things in my life completely differently.

These thoughts can be paralyzing at times. For example, think of how when so many people have the thought of “getting into shape” that thought is immediately followed with more thoughts that sound a lot like, “you know, I’ve tried to do that so many times, but I just can’t seem to change who I am…” Hopelessness is a sneaky root that works its way into our minds through these thoughts and seasons of life and buries itself deep in our hearts.

A well-known man named Zacchaeus experienced a very similar questioning in his life. Zacchaeus was a man who had been living his life the wrong way for a very, very long time. Known as the chief tax collector in Jericho, Zacchaeus was not only in a brutal career, but he was also an unkind person all around, known for being someone who valued income and penny-pinching more than he valued people, possibly even more than he valued his own life…

The Bible tells a story of Jesus coming into Jericho for a visit and encountering Zacchaeus, and the most alarming thing took place – when Jesus simply spoke to this man, his life was changed. Jesus states after quality time spent with Zacchaeus that the, “son of man came to seek and save the lost,” (Luke 19:19-10) and Zacchaeus embodied that transformation entirely.

The people of Jericho scoffed and grumbled at this, frustrated that Jesus could meet such a terrible person who was living his life the wrong way and in such a short time already believe that he had a changed heart and life. Had Zacchaeus let his fear of what people thought of him control his actions, perhaps he could have hindered Jesus’ transformational work in his heart.

However, Zacchaeus did not focus on that. Locked on Jesus, he was transformed and a new man. His new life was right in front of him, and he embraced it wholeheartedly, never questioning that it was “too late” for him to change into who God had called him to be.

Friend, if you are reading this today and you’re wondering if it is too late to change that sin in your life that you’ve always struggled with, you are wrong. If you are reading this today and deep in your heart of hearts you are wondering if you are “too old” to truly pursue that calling that God has placed on you, you are also wrong. Daughter of Christ, if you are reading this today and you are asking yourself, “am I really capable of living a life God has called me to? One of peace, purpose, joy, and calling?” the answer is YES.

Like Zacchaeus, with just one word from Jesus to your heart, you can take the bold step and change your path, make that leap of faith, or become the person God has called you to be. God’s perfect love “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), and sets you free to pursue the life God calls you to have – one of purpose, peace, and joy.

Like the Pharisees and Sadducees in Luke 20 after witnessing Zacchaeus’s transformation, it’s often easy to get lost in questions, in analytics, in the numbers and the logistics of what Jesus is doing in our lives… But that is simply not the way of Jesus. Jesus calls us to faith, to the belief of what is unseen in our lives and in this world.

My encouragement for you today is this: It is never too late. Daughter of Christ, God is still working in your life, in your family’s lives, and in this world. If you have given up hope in any area today, Jesus is holding his hand out to you and asking you to trust him once and again and have the faith that he is still God, he is still good, and he is doing a mighty work in your life.